HOW INDIA BREATHES ?

WHO reports that 1.1 million people die in India because of air pollution every year. India has recorded a nearly 50% increase in premature deaths linked to particulate matter PM2.5 between 1990 and 2015. Outdoor air is very polluted both in urban and rural areas. Delhi is one of the most polluted cities in the world. Continuous ambient air quality measurements data of Delhi shows very high PM2.5 and gas concentration levels.

In most of the urban buildings the ambient air is the main source of indoor air pollutant due to lack of sufficient filtration in air intake. It is important that the indoor air does not contain any harmful substances and keeps occupants healthy. But at the same time the solutions need to ensure a balance between a clean environment and the protection of immunity in its users. Technologies chosen to clean the indoor air have to be safe for users and well tested.

To be able to analyse the air quality, targets needs to be set using the correct benchmark values like using ISHRAE IEQ standard 10001:2016.Indoor air quality targets should be also achieved without major increase in energy use of buildings.

In rural areas, household cooking without chimneys creates carbon monoxide and particulate matter indoors. Hundreds of millions of people gets their daily meal cooked in ‘chulha’ with open fire. Stable burning increases the PM2.5 levels in outdoor air.

It is estimated that air pollution cost the Indian economy USD 0.5 trillion (INR 25,000 per capita) in welfare losses (OECD). However, improved air quality is not only a good business case for society, it is a good business case for any company or individual. Our health obviously cannot be measured in money. But better indoor air quality can improve the bottom line of our businesses.

Latest international research also shows that children in classrooms with high outdoor air ventilation rates tend to achieve higher scores on standardized tests in math and reading than children in poorly ventilated classrooms. This of’course presume that ventilation air is clean from pollutants.